Religion briefs

Israel’s prime minister has instructed a quasi-governmental Jewish organization to find a solution for non-Orthodox Jewish female groups wishing to pray at one of Judaism’s holiest sites.

An official said Tuesday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency, to look into the matter. The official spoke anonymously according to government regulations.

Last week, Israeli police detained women from a liberal Jewish group who approached the Western Wall in Jerusalem carrying prayer shawls. Orthodox Jews insist those are for men only. The women seek to worship at the site without such restrictions.

SANTA FE, N.M.

A group of Taos-area homeowners is appealing Santa Fe County’s decision to allow construction of a church where members drink a hallucinogenic tea as a sacrament.

The six Arroyo Hondo homeowners object to the county spending about $400,000 to extend a waterline and build a sewage-treatment system there.

The notice of appeal filed in state court Wednesday argues using taxpayer money violates New Mexico’s anti-donation clause and the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state.

ST. LOUIS

A 19th-century Bible stolen from a St. Louis church several days before Christmas has turned up at an antique shop and a suspect has been arrested.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported a man hawked the Bible for $30 Sunday. But after conducting an Internet search Wednesday, the store that bought the nearly 15-pound Bible learned it had been stolen from St. John’s Lutheran Church. Police were called and the Bible returned.

The church has been the target of repeated burglaries. Thieves have stolen property, ruined food for the poor and damaged the building itself.